Mitteler rebbe biography of george

Rabbi Dov Ber Schneuri, the Mitteler Rebbe, was the second rebbe in the Chabad dynasty, the son and successor of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya. He was born following the blessing of the Maggid of Mezritch and was named after him. He was known for the length and depth of his chasidic discourses. His son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, said of him, "If they were to cut my father-in-law's finger, Chasidut would flow instead of blood." Like his father, the Alter Rebbe, he too was arrested following slander by opponents. His festival of redemption from imprisonment falls on the 10th of Kislev. The day before, the 9th of Kislev, is both the birthday and the day of passing of the Mitteler Rebbe, openly fulfilling the verse "I will fill the number of your days" meaning that one will be born and pass on in the same day of the year. The Mitteler Rebbe led Chabad for 15 years and passed away while delivering a chasidic discourse with the words "For with You is the source of life, from the life of life." He is buried in the city of Nizhyn, Ukraine.

The greatness of the Mitteler Rebbe in the revealed Torah was concealed: he did not engage much in halachic rulings and wrote down only a few of his innovations in this area. He is famous for his greatness in Chasidic teachings, to which he truly devoted his soul. Due to the length and depth of his chasidic discourses, the Mitteler Rebbe was called "Rechovot HaNahar" (the breadth of the river).

In this context, it is told that the Mitteler Rebbe once asked his attendant: "Please report back to me: Where do people say my strength is greater? In the revealed Torah or in Chasidut?" The attendant went out and stayed for some time, then came back in and said to the Rebbe: "In the revealed Torah, your strength is certainly great, but in Chasidut, your strength is even greater." The Rebbe said: "This is not true. If I were to devote myself to studying the revealed Torah for half a year, there would be no genius like me. But what can I do, for my desire is to grasp the attributes of the Infinite Light. (In another version: my desire is that if two young chasidic men meet, they should speak about the higher and lower unifications)&#;"

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When the holy Mitteler Rebbe assumed the mantle of leadership, he found it difficult to respond to the questions and inquiries sent to him. He appointed his son-in-law, the holy Tzemach Tzedek, and the chasidic genius Rabbi Nechemiah of Dubrovna, to prepare responses for the inquirers. The Rebbe would pass the questions to them, and they would study them and compose the answers. He made one condition: before sending the responses to the inquirers, they should come to him to show him the answers, so he could ensure that the response was aligned with what he would answer. They did so, and in all the responses, the Mitteler Rebbe agreed with his son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek.

Once, a question came, and the Tzemach Tzedek and Rabbi Nechemiah prepared the response. The inquirer requested an urgent answer due to the pressing nature of the question. The Mitteler Rebbe was very busy at that time and they did not have an opportune moment to show him the response for review.

The Tzemach Tzedek and Rabbi Nechemiah agreed that since until now the Mitteler Rebbe had always agreed with them and there had never been an instance when he did not concur, they were confident that this time too he would agree with them. And since the inquirer urgently needed a response, they sent the response without presenting it to the Mitteler Rebbe for review beforehand. After some time, the Rebbe asked his son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, if they had already answered the question. He said that they had already sent the response, explaining that it was urgent and the Rebbe was busy, so they sent it without the Rebbe's review.

The Mitteler Rebbe asked his son-in-law to show him the copy of the response that was sent. When he examined the response, he told them that they had erred, and it contradicted the opinion of Tosafot in Yevamot! The Tzemach Tzedek was disheartened that he had misunderstood an explicit Tosafot. The Mitteler Rebbe, comforted him, saying: "Du bist noch nit kein Rebbe, kenst noch hobn a toi’us [You are not yet a Rebbe, you can still make a mistake]…."

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A question arose in the house of the Mitteler Rebbe about the kosher status of a chicken that had been ritually slaughtered. The Rebbe's daughter brought the question before the Tzemach Tzedek and other rabbis, and they ruled as they ruled. But she was not satisfied, and said they should ask her father's opinion. When they came to the Mitteler Rebbe and explained their view and the sources from which they derived their ruling, the Rebbe showed them that from this very source, the ruling is the opposite, as it is from most sources&#;

In these stories, the Mitteler Rebbe's ability to refute the reasoning of the rabbis around him is emphasized. Even when his son-in-law, the genius, studies thoroughly, and even if all the rabbis rule like him, the Rebbe is able to turn the very same sources they used as proof into evidence for his own position. This ability is reminiscent of a statement attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, that "I can refute any logical argument in the revealed Torah, whatever it may be."

What, however, is the point? Is there real benefit in the ability to refute any Torah-based reasoning? After all, the Baal Shem Tov doesn't even say "any false reasoning," but boasts of his ability to refute any reasoning whatsoever.

The ability to refute any reasoning reveals a deeper dimension behind it and in fact behind all logical reasoning: each logical argument belongs to a certain level in Godliness, to a specific world or partzuf (persona) in the intricate system of worlds created at the moment of Creation. But the inner point of them all, the central bolt that runs from end to end, is the point where they are connected to the Godliness that gives them life. In that place, they essentially become nullified and unified with the simple Godliness that is beyond all reasoning and comprehension. A person who is connected to this inner point can freely navigate between the worlds and approaches and can also find in each one its point of nothingness, the point at which it could have been exactly the opposite.

Similar to the Baal Shem Tov, the Mitteler Rebbe could also grasp this point of nothingness, the Godliness in everything and in every reasoning. This is also related to the fact that he lived נד (54) years, the secret of the Nameד”ן  (DaN) in Kabbalah. Scholarly reasonings stem from the Name sag [יוד הי ואו הי], which belongs to the sefirah of binah (understanding). But the Name DaN [יוד הא ויו הא] is the inverse of SaG [the letters hei of the Name DaN are filled with the letter alef and the vav is filled with yud, the opposite of the Name SaG]. With its “judgments” and its assertiveness, the Name DaN nullifies all the reasonings that can flow from the Name SaG.

We won't delve deeper into Kabbalistic matters now, but it is worth noting one timely detail about this Name: The first time the combination DaN is mentioned in the Torah is in the Covenant Between the Parts: "And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge (dan)." This teaches us that to judge a nation that enslaves Israel, one must refute all its reasonings. As Rabbi Yochanan said, "He who acknowledges the words of the gentiles falls into their hands." What some nations call "humanitarianism" is actually cruelty. The terms "responsibility and discretion" serve as a laundered term for endangering Jewish lives.

The Egyptians also had a complete philosophy, a system of thought and political correctness, which enslaved entire nations without protest&#; As then, so today, to escape mental enslavement, there is a need for new and liberated thinking.